Article of furniture



y 18,1943 5. MRowNLE-E EW 7 2,319,581

ARTICLE OF FURNITURE Filed Mgrch '10, 1941 Patented May 18, 1943 NT F Fl CE ARTICLE 01* FURNITURE.

Stuart D. Brownlee and John G. Maedonald; Toronto, Ontario, Canada Application March 10, 1941, Serial No. 382,556 In Canada March 16, 1940 4' Claims.

Our invention relates to furniture and particularly to an article of furniture adapted to rest either directly upon a supporting surface or be supported clear of said surface on a set of wheels.

It is an. object of our invention to provide an article of furniture having a set of wheels actuated by an operating mechanism whereby the said wheels may be either retracted into an inoperative position within the article or projected into an operative position to support the article and facilitate movement thereof from one location to another.

Further objects and advantages of our invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize our invention will be set forth in the claims appended to and forming a part of this specification.

In accordance with our invention, we provide an article of furniture having a flat top surface and mounted on a suitable supporting: base. Within the framework of the article and adjacent the base thereof, we provide a, set of wheels mounted on a retractable chassis whi h i pi otally connected to the framework of the article. The retractable chassis is connected through a linkage system to a pivotally mounted operating handle located adjacent the top of the article, whereby movements of the handle actuate the chassis and move the wheels into or out of their retracted position. When the handle is moved to a first position, the wheels are retracted into an" inoperative position within the article and the article rests directly on the supporting base. When the handle is moved to a second position, the wheels are projected downward into an operative position below the supporting base and the article is supported on the wheels. The linkage means connecting the handle and the retractable chassis is so arranged that when the handle is moved into either of the positions indicated above, the operating mechanism is automatically locked and remains locked until again actuated by manual operation of the'handle.

For a more complete understanding of our invention, reference should be had to the accompanying drawing in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 isa perspective view of an article of furniture in accordance with our invention.

Fig. 2 is an end. elevation of. the article of Fig. 1-. with an end panel removed;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the article of Fig. 1 shown partly broken away.

Fig. i is a skeleton perspective of the article of Fig. 1 illustrating the position of the operating parts with the wheels in a partially retracted position.

Referring to the drawing, the embodiment of our invention shown in detail therein comprises an article of furniture III of ageneral oblong configuration provided with a top II, sides I2, end panels I3; and a supporting base I4. A chassis I5 is retractably mounted in an opening I6 provided between an inner base I! and the bottom of the supporting base I4. The retractable chassis I5 is providedadjacent the one end thereof with a pair of swivel mounted wheels I8, and adjacent the other end thereof with a pair of larger wheels I9 mounted on an axle 20. The chassis I5 is pivotally connected to longitudinally extending frame members 23whi-ch are rigidly fastened to transverse frame members 24 under the inner :base IT. The pivotal connections'between the retractable chassis I5 and the frame members 23 are completed at the one end of the chassis by a pair of bell crank pivot links 2|; and at the other end of the chassis by a pair of straight pivot links 22. The pairs of pivot links 2-I and 22 are so dimensioned that when the chassis I5 is in the retracted position illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawing, the wheels are entirely within the opening I6, and when the chassis is in the projected position indicated by broken lines in Fig. 3, the wheels extend sufficiently below the bottom surface ofthe base I4 to support the article I0 clear of the floor or other supporting surface. The pair of bell crank pivot links ZI are provided with angular projecting arms indicated by reference character 25.

An operating handle 26 is of general U-shaped configuration with the ends of the U-arms bent to form angular extensions 21. The handle 26 is pivotally mounted on a supporting bar 28, which extends transversely across a recess 29 provided in one end of the article It! directly below thetop I I. A pair of rigid connectin rods 30, passing through slots 3| in the inner base I], are pivotally connected at 32 to the ends of the handle extensions 21 and at 33 to the ends of the angular extension arms 25 of the bell crank pivot links 2 I.

When the chassis I5 is in its retracted position, the handle 26 is entirely within the recess 29 and the various parts of the operating mechanism are in therpositionsbest indicated in Fig. 3 ofth adrawing.

Referring particularly to Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawing for details of the operating mechanism; when the free end of the handle 26 is manually moved out of the recess 29, the handle pivots about the transverse supporting bar 28 and the ends 32 of the handle extensions 21 move in an are about the bar 28. Motion is transferred through the pivotally connected rigid rods to the ends 33 of the bell crank pivot links 2|, with the result that the links 2| are pivoted about the points 34 where they connect to the rigid frame members 23. The chassis I5 is thus projected away from the frame members 23 and the pairs of wheels [8 and I9 are brought into contact with the supporting surface on which the article rests. When the wheels contact the surface 35, further movement of the handle 26 out of the recess 29 is resisted by the weight of the article. However, the wheels, contacting the supporting surface 35, provide a fulcrum point of a simple leverage system and very little increase in pressure is required to continue movement of the handle out of the recess 29. As the movement of the handle continues, the article is raised clear of the supporting surface 35, as best indicated in Fig. 4 of the drawing.

In the position illustrated in Fig. 4, the free end of the handle 26 has been moved out of the recess and pivoted about the bar 28 through an angle of about 90. extensions 21 and the rigid connecting rods 30 are approaching a dead-center position, where they will be directly in line. When the handle extensions 21 and the rigid connecting rods 30 reach this dead-center position, the pairs of pivot links 2| and 22 connecting the chassis l5 to the rigid frame members 23 will be vertical and the chassis l5 will be in its extreme projected position. Movement of the handle beyond the dead-center position reverses the leverage action and the weight of the article then tends to force the handle further from the recess 29 and to lower the article as the pairs of pivot links 2! and 22 pass their vertical positions and move into the positions shown in broken lines in Fig. 3 of the drawing. When the handle reaches the extreme position illustrated by broken lines in Fig. 3, it bears against the end of the top H which serves as a stop to prevent further upward movement of the handle. In this position the pairs of wheels l8 and [9 are still sufficiently projected below the base M to support the article ID clear of the supporting surface 35, and in this position it is obvious that the weight of the ar ticle is utilized to lock the operating mechanism in this position. It will be seen that in this position the free end of the handle 26 is held in a convenient extended location where it may be utilized as a hand-hold and as a guide in moving the article about on the wheels.

To retract the wheels into their inoperative position and allow the article again to rest directly on the supporting base I 4, the free end of the handle 26 is manually moved and pivoted about the supporting bar 28 back into the recess 29. This movement is first resisted by the weight of the article, but very little pressure is required to actuate the handle as the length of the handleprovides a convenient leverage about the bar 28 until the dead-center position is again reached. Movement of the handle after passing the deadcenter position is aided by the weight of the article when the leverage reverses and the wheels move easily into their retracted. position, the

In this position the handle handle moves into the recess 29, and the article is again supported directly on the base H.

In this embodiment of our invention we provide a pair of top extensions 36, which are hinged at 31 and may be raised into position as indicated by broken lines at 38 in Fig. 1, to increase the area of the top I l It will be seen that the retractable wheels and the operating mechanism occupy only a portion of the total enclosed volume of the article and the remainder of the volume may be conveniently utilized to provide utility drawers, bookshelves, wine cabinets or the like (not shown).

Other modifications and embodiments of our invention will be obvious to anyone skilled in the art and while we have described and illustrated herein the details of a specific constructional embodiment, it is understood that we are not restricted thereto, but aim to include within the scope of the appended claims all modifications falling within the scope of our invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In an article of furniture adapted for use either as a table or as a serving wagon; the combination of a set of wheels mounted on a chassis retractably supported within said article, one end of said chassis connected to said article by a pair of single arm pivot links and the other end of said chassis connected to said article by a pair of bell-crank-shaped pivot links, the angular extending arms of said bell crank links pivotally connected to the ends of a pair of rigid rods, said rods pivotally connected to the ends of the arms of a U-shaped handle, the arms of said U-shaped handle pivotally supported on said article, whereby movement of the base portion of said U-shaped handle is transferred through said rigid rods, pivoting said bell-crank links and actuating said chassis to retract or project said wheels.

2. In an article of furniture adaptable for use either as a movable serving wagon or a fixed table, the combination of a framework provided with a table-top surface, side panels and base, said base enclosing a retractably mounted set of wheels and a recess within one of said side panels enclosing a pivotally mounted handle member, a linkage system totally enclosed within said framework and connecting said handle to said wheels, said handle manually actuatable between an operative and an inoperative position past a dead-center point in said linkage, whereby when said handle is pivoted to said inoperative position said wheels are retracted and locked within said base and said handle is enclosed and locked within said recess, and when said handle is actuated to said operative position said wheels are projected and locked in position below said base to support said article and said handle is projected and locked in a substantially horizontal position extending from said article for use as a control bar to operate said article as a movable serving wagon.

3. In an article of furniture adapted for a plurality of uses, the combination of a framework of substantially parallelopiped configuration, enclosing panels mounted on all sides of said framework, a main table-top surface mounted on the top of said framework, top extension members hinged to said main top, retractable wheels mounted within the base of said framework, a control handle pivotally mounted in a recess located below said main table-top surface, said control handle connected through linkage means to said retractable wheels, said control handle manually movable from said recess to raise the framework of said article above said retractable wheels past a dead-center position in said linkage beyond which the weight of said article locks said framework above said wheels and locks said control handle in an extended position above the level of said main table-top surface.

4. In an article of furniture adapted for use as a movable serving wagon or for use as a fixed serving table, the combination of a table-top mounted on a framework supporting a set of retractable wheels and a pivotally mounted control handle; said handle adapted for use as a hand grip for pushing said article when said article 0 of said article until said handle is manually moved.

'* STUART D. BROWNLEE.

JOHN G. MACDONALD. 

